Step for tramcars and the like



March 31,1925.

' s. OKABE s'rsrv r'on THAMCARS AND THE pnm Filed Jul 7.; 1922 Y a sheets-sheik '1 Atty/:3

Much 31, 1925. 1,531,345

' S. OKABE STEP FOR TRAMQARS AND THE LIKE.

jiled July 7, 1922 3 Shet-Sheot 5 Patented Mar. 31, 19 25.

oer-LC E;-

SHIGER'U organs,- onasoxnsmeon, FUKUOKA-KEN, mean.

.STE-P non TRAMoABsA-ND THE LIKE.

' Application fil -Jinan 1922;. s rinn 57a4s5.

To all whom it: mag wmwemw Be it; known that LSHI ERU' Qnnen, a Sub ectof. the Emperor of Japan, resid ng;

at No. 1129 Oaz a Maidashi, Katakashi-z Machig TSultushi Gun, Fuku ka Ken, a pan, have I invented;- certa n new. and; useful. Improvements. lnI- Steps for Tramoars. and;

he ik f which the following is. a. d; ficat-ion.

This invention relates to improvements in; door and stepstructures and the; ope-rating, mechanisms. therefor of the-type which; arecommonly used at the entrance and; exit. doorways of railway cars, and the invent-ion.

has for its object, to. provide in connection with a sliding door andfa set ofJfold ng steps, a devlce for; actuating the steps and for effecting the opening movement ofgthe door snnultaneously with thepro ect1on of thesteps to operative position.

A further object of; the invention. is. the provision of means associated with the connectionsbetween the door and step whereby the door, subsequent to being automatic-ally opened. in response to the mo'veinentsof the steps to operativeposition, is. automatically disconnected from the step operatingmechanism so as to avoid 'injury to passengers standing in the' doorway atrthe moment when thesteps are? returned toinoperative posit-ion, the, arrangement being such as to necessitate the door being closed manually and: independently of" the return. of the steps, to inoperative position.

.The' accompanying drawings show 'examples of. the improved stepsembodying the present invention.

Fig. 1 is' a/s'idev elevation of a part of the tram fear provided with the steps of the present invention. f 1

Fig; 21s a fragmentaryverticalsection ofthe car showing the steps in, the operative position.

Fig. '3 is a'vie'w similar to Fig. 2, the steps being foldedor closed. a Fig. 4 is a side elevation partly in section of the rollers or associated with the twisted plate, the latter being shown in broken lines.

Fig. 5is the elevation of the clutch mechanism attached to the supporting shaft of the twisted plate. i' Fig. 6 is the side elevation of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7' is an elevation of the twisted plate showing the rollers associated there with, and Fig. 8 is the end viewof the plate.

Fig. 9, is an elevation of a modification of the twisted J plate, and 10 is an end ew. o he mo fi e ie The improved steps are specially. adapted for. use on a railway car and the like, provided Witlra sliding door-at its entrance or exit. Referring to Fig. 1, a;t the entrance doorway 2 of the car 1 the door 4 is arranged toslide on the rail 3, and below the entrance the supporting. frames 5, 5. are fixed underneath the car-frame 1, and the steps '6, 6 are pivotal-1y. supported in the frames, by shafts 7, 7 so that they can be closed. or folded inwardly. At one end of one of the shafts 7 and'on the side of the latter-opposite the steps 6 there is arranged av weight 8 which. is designed to counterbalance the steps, and facilitate. their. movement from one position to another. At the opposite ends of the shafts 7 there are attached arms 9- Which are connected to the link 10, At the upper end of the link 1.0 another link 11 extending upwards is attached and the other end/of the last mentioned link is pivotally connected to an arm 12. I

iVithin the car 1 a twisted plate or screw element 13 is arranged. substantially parah lel to the bottom of the door 4. The screw element 13 is provided with shaft extensions 15 rotatably mounted in the. bearings 14-, 14. The "arm 12 is attachedto one extension 15.

The twisted plate, as shown in Fig. 7, is comof a length approximating the length of stroke of the sliding door and evenly twisted along its longitudinal axis by 90 to 120 degrees. A set of rollers 16,16 are arranged to interpose, the twisted plate between them and travel along the whole length of the plate. Said rollers are mounted on. the supporting frame 17, and the latter is fixed on the inner sidjeof the dooryl, so that when the door is opened or closed the twisted plate is caused to revolve on its axis by the rollers travelling along the plate, and on the contrary, when the twisted plate is revolved the door is caused to move by means of the rollers being pushed the 19, so that they can be easily replaced when worn out. Friction reducing balls are interposed between the ends of the rollers and the bearing washers 21, 21.

In case the arm 12 is directly fixed on the plate or screw element 13 and is connected to the axes of the steps by the links 10, 11 and the arms 9, 9 the steps 6, 6 are made to open or close automatically when the door 4 is opened or closed manually. When the sliding door 4 is opened, as shown in Fig. 1, the arm 12 swings upwards by the revolution of the twisted plate 13 and the links 10, 11 and the arms 9, 9 are pulled up so that the steps 6, 6 are opened or moved to operative position. The opening movement of the steps is stopped when they reach a horizontal position by straps 22, secured to said steps and provided with hooked ends which engage the frame 5. When the door is closed the links 10 and 11 and arms 9 are moved downwardly whereby the steps are closed or folded upwardly and inwardly as shown in Fig. 3.

An arm 24, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, attached to one end of the step supporting shaft/T, is connected to an arm 23 by a link 24, and on the pivot pin 25 of the arm 23 another arm 26 is fixed and is. connected to the lower end of a hand-lever 27 by a link 28. By swinging the handle 27 backward or forward the steps ,6 are opened or closed manually by the arms 23 and 26 and the links 24 and 28, and according to said motion of the steps the door is caused to open or close automatically through the operation of the screw element 13.

In case the door is automatically closed by the operation of the hand lever 27, it is possible that the sudden movement of the door may injure passengers standing near. To avoid such accident a special clutch mechanism is attached to one of the shaft extensions 15 by which the operating connection between the steps and door is auto matically broken when the steps are open, said clutch mechanism also operating to lock the door. in its closed position when the steps are closed. Fig. 5 and Fig.6 show an example of such clutch mechanism. An arm 12, connected to the link 11, is loosely fitted on the extension 15 of the twisted plate, and the arm 29, integral with the arm 12 supports a pawl 30 actuated by a spiral spring 31 on its shank 32. The disk 33, having the recess 34 on its periphery is fixed on the extension 15 by the set screw 35, and an inclined surface 36, for supporting the clutch piece 30, is formed on the topof the bearing 14 adjacent to the disk 33.

hen the car stops at the station and the steps are opened, as shown in Fig. 2, the links 10 and 11 push up the arm 12, and the arm 29, integral with the arm 12, is

brought to a vertical position and the clutch piece 30 being pushed up by the inclined surface 33, disengages from the recess 34 of the disk, and the shaft extension 15 can revolve free from the arms 12 and 29. Therefore, after the steps have been opened, the movement of the door only causes the revolution of the twisted plate, without transmitting said motion to the steps, thus the door can be opened or closed freely or independently of the steps while the car stops at the station At the departure of the car, when the steps are closed, as shown in Fig. 3, the arm 29 swings downwards and the clutch piece 30 moving ofi of the supporting surface 36, presses against the periphery of the disk 33. So that when the door is shut after the steps have been closed, the twisted plate causes the revolution of the disk and the recess 34 comes opposite and receives the clutch piece 30 and the arms 12 and 29 are clutched with the disk 03, thus locking the door in its closed position while the car is running and preventing it from being opened until the car stops and the steps are opened again at the next station. 7 Y

In the modification of the screw element illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10, a curved rod 13 is arranged helically around the shaft 15, mounted on the bearings 14, 14, and is fixed to the shaft at both ends by the arms 13 13. A set of grooved pulleys 16, 16 is fixed inside the door to interpose the curved rod 13 between them.

I claim 1. In combination, a movable door, a foldable step, means for moving said step to operative and inoperative positions, and means for positively opening said door in response to the movement of the step to operative position, said door being adapted to be manually closed, movement of the step to inoperative position and the closing of the door requiring separate operations of the step and door.

y 2. Inscombination, a movable door, a fold able step, means for moving said step to operative and inoperative positions, and means for positively opening said door in response to the movement of the step to operative position, said 'door being adapted to be manually closed, the last mentioned means acting to lock the door when the latter is closed to prevent it from being opened except in response to the movement of the step.

3. In combination, a movable door, a movably supported step adapted to be shifted from operative to inoperative positions, means for shifting said step, means connecting said step with said door whereby the latter is positively opened coincident with the movement of the step to operative position, and means acting to render the last mentioned means inoperative when the 'door is fully opened whereby the latter is released from the step and is capable of being completely closed independently of the latter.

4. In combination, a movable door, a step movable from operative to inoperative positions, means for actuating said step, means operating to positively open said door coincident with the movement of the step to operative position, said means including a rotatable element actuated by the step and transmitting movement to the door and a clutch device operating to disconnect the rotatable element from the step whenthe door is fully opened whereby said door may be moved independently of the step.

5. In combination, a movable door, a step movable from operative to inoperative positions, means for actuating said step, means operating to positively open said door coincidentwith the movement of the step to operative position, and a clutch device operating to disconnect the step from the door when the latter is fully opened whereby said door may be moved independently of the step, said operating means including a rotatable screw element, and means carried by the door co-acting therewith. I

6. In combination, a movable door, a movable supporting step shiftable from operative to inoperative position, means for actuating said step, and means operating to open said door coincident with the movement of the step to operative position and operating to disconnect the door from the step when said door is fully opened whereby the step may be returned to inoperative position independently of the door.

7. In combination, a slidable door, a step movable from operative to inoperative positions, means for actuating the step, and means connecting the step with the 'door whereby the latter is: opened simultaneously with the movement of the step to operative position, said connecting means including a rotatable screw element, means for transmitting movement from the step to the screw element to effect rotation of the latter, and means carried by said door and engaging the screw element for producing sliding movement of the door coincident with rotation of the screw element.

8. In combination, a slidable door, a step movable from operative to inoperative positions, means for actuating said step, a rotatable screw element, means connecting said door with said screw element operating to produce sliding movement of said door coincident with rotation of said screw element, and means connecting said step with said screw element, said connecting means including a pair of members rotatably and non-rotatably associated with the screw element, a clutching element adapted to nonrotatably connect the rotatable and nonrotatable members, means operating to move said clutch element to inoperating position when the door is in an open position, and means connecting the rotatable element with said step. I

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SHIGERU OKABE. IVitnesses KWAN HUKARA,

OSAMU TsUMUnA. 

